TheBusinessDesk.com expands into the East Midlands
Regional business news website TheBusinessDesk.com is accelerating its growth plans with the launch today of the East Midlands as its fourth region.
It is part of an £800,000 investment programme which will result in a doubling of staff numbers and is expected to support its audience also doubling in size.
The company has recruited Sam Metcalf, who was the launch editor of East Midlands Business Link and previously editor of Midlands Business Insider, as its editor for its new region.
The expansion comes as the site is enjoying record traffic, with audience levels up nearly 40% year-on-year. The site’s three established regions – Yorkshire, North West and the West Midlands – are on track to deliver more than 10m page views in 2016.
However the move into the East Midlands marks the start of a new growth phase for the media business which is being combined with demanding audience targets.
This is being matched by the commercial side of the business, with turnover up 15%, boosted by ever-stronger relationships with leading businesses and organisations.
Mark Hales, executive chairman of TheBusinessDesk.com, said: “We are central to the business communities in which we operate and we want to quickly have the deep relationships in the East Midlands.
“Our strong audience growth demonstrates the appetite for the news we provide in the way that we provide it and we are confident now is the right time to move into new areas.
“We have a number of ways we plan to continue to grow our audience throughout the year and have set ourselves very ambitious targets.”
Rolling annual page views for TheBusinessDesk.com, 2011 – 2016 (forecast):
Mr Metcalf, who has been writing about businesses in the East Midlands for the last decade, added: “It’s a real privilege to be involved in the launch of TheBusinessDesk.com in the East Midlands, and we have all been busy over the last couple of months getting the message out there.
“The East Midlands has been the fastest-growing region outside of the south-east post-recession, and there is so much going on at the moment – from the devolution and HS2 plans, through to the burgeoning SME, life sciences, creative industries and professional services sectors. I’d urge anyone who has a great business story to tell to get in touch – we want to place ourselves at the very centre of the local business scene.”
Sam Metcalf can be contacted on 07889 707802 or sam.metcalf@thebusinessdesk.com.
